Raven Audio Nighthawk

@robertcropdust 
You say that Raven thinks the amp got damaged. When I received my Nighthawk it was not packed well at all. I even called them and told them that I was very disappointed at the packaging quality and effort, or lack there of, put into it. However, I think it's more of a tube issue than the amp issue. If the amp gets damaged, chances are you're going to have a dead channel or two not just a hum. Just my two cents.

You did say you had a crackle out of one channel. I also had a crackle out of one channel in my Nighthawk. Ha... funny.

You then go on to say that this would be fun and expensive addiction.

???

Sorry but how is that fun? How is it fun to purchase a brand new $3,000 amplifier and have issues right off the bat where the manufacturer thinks it may have gotten damaged and then you also have a crackle in one channel? 
Sorry, to me that is absolutely unacceptable and is exactly what I told James when I spoke with him regarding my disappointment with the amplifier. 

To me, that is not the type of fun I want to have, especially with expensive addictions.

i would add here that i very much believe that makers of hifi gear, big or small, have a responsibility, even a duty, to their customers to design and supply excellent packaging that provides safe and trouble-free transport of their gear in this age of fedex and ups with their high speed sorting machines and conveyors, not to mention overworked and tired drivers/delivery people

for amps and speakers that weigh alot, are often quite bulky, and are worth thousands of dollars, there is simply no excuse for not having a packaging design that is completely thought through and implemented without being cheap or cutting corners

exemplary small biz cases of this are vladimir at audio mirror, and frank van alstine... terrific products, terrific packaging -- on the bigger end, audio research and conrad johnson set the bar for being absolutely top notch

others, evidently, not so much - tis a shame and a disservice to the customer

@robertcropdust
I will be surprised if Raven doesn’t offer to correct it at no expense to you. When I received my Blackhawk, it had a bad buzz that obviously wasn’t right, though it was well packed with no visible damage. I called Dave at 9pm about it and he spent close to an hour guiding me to trouble shoot it over the phone. When nothing helped, he sent me a prepaid shipping label to return it to be fixed. After a week or so I got it back working correctly. Turns out a grounding wire had come loose possibly from being dropped flat during shipping (working at a company that receives shipments from UPS and FedEx daily, I wouldn’t be surprised).
There was a delay with receiving my amp initially, and when I had to send it right back out, I was very frustrated and questioning my purchase. However, after listening to it as it was supposed to be, I was so pleased that all was forgotten. I think James may get overwhelmed at times. If you don’t get a satisfactory response from him, try Dave. In my experience he really has been responsive day or night.

@devilboy 
yes I think this will be a fun journey building up my perfect system for my hideaway. I also think it can get expensive and addicting at the same time:) I do believe that Raven will stand by their product and I’m sure this will get resolved soon enough. I’ve ordered many thousand of dollars of avionics for my aircraft through the years and I have received damaged electronics that could have easily caused a very bad day for me and my family while flying. There is a good chance that FedEx might have tried for a 60 yard field goal with the wind in there face??? Who knows. I won’t let this experience with Raven stress me out there’s plenty of stress to be found elsewhere. I still have my old SS Yamaha to piss off my neighbors!:)

I think the seller is skypunk. 
On a different note, can you imagine if the same number of people reported problems with chifi tube amps? Oh the horror!!!